Words On Birds 11-01-24

 

     There were snow flurries on Plum Island one day this week, as well as in our town of Essex. The night temperatures dipped below freezing on at least one night and we had to break the ice in our bird bath one morning. I have been watched squirrels carrying mouthfuls of dried leaves up the trees to further insulate their nests. Winter is knocking on our door, despite the warm temperatures on Halloween.

 

     The chilly weather has increased activity at the bird feeders.  We have had more than 30 goldfinches at the finch feeders this week. A pine siskin, one of the winter finches, was a surprise among the goldfinches on one morning. The numbers of white-throated sparrows under our feeders have climbed to more than ten. Juncos, also referred to as “snowbirds”, are also on the increase as well with five or more visiting.

 

     Nyger and finch food sales have increased the past couple of weeks at the store, indicating that many customers are also seeing increased goldfinch activity at the feeders. Even juncos enjoy the Nyger. With more pine siskins and a few redpolls being reported from the field, we keep a close watch at the feeders for these winter visitors.

 

     There have also been reports of more red-breasted nuthatches invading the area. Cousin to our resident white-breasted nuthatch, the red-breasted nuthatch is smaller, more bluish on the back and red on the front, and a dark line through the eye. More reports could mean that this may be an eruption year for these cute northern birds, so do keep an eye out at your sunflower and suet feeders this season.

 

     We have seen only one grackle at the feeders this past week or two. Previously we had so many grackles that we had to cut back on the number of feeders we put out, and limited the amount of seed that we filled in them. Now that the grackles have moved on, we have added more finch feeders, more suet, and filled the hopper feeders to the top. Adding feeders have added to the activity for sure.  

 

     More woodpeckers are arriving at the suet every day.  Red-bellied, hairy and downy woodpeckers are continuously visiting. Occasionally a nuthatch might slip a turn at the suet. We even saw a brown creeper in the nearby trees, but we didn’t see it visit the suet feeders, but it might! 

 

     The Carolina wrens still come regularly to the live mealworms in “their” feeder on the deck. Our local bluebirds have checked out our offering this fall, so we have to be diligent putting out the dried mealworms for them as well. The titmice love the mealworms too, as do many of the other birds.

 

     We have had an adult and a juvenile Cooper’s hawk scouting the yard for potential prey. Occasionally they have been successful, but we have witnessed many more misses than successes. The adult is clearly more adept at capturing prey but the juvenile is often entertaining to watch in its attempts. A case in point:

 

     Atop our large wooden seed hopper feeder, Margo originally attached small wood “decoys” of a chickadee and a goldfinch to encourage those birds to visit. One morning this week, we heard a commotion in the yard and we looked out to find the decoy chickadee missing from the roof of the feeder. Below the feeder was the juvenile Cooper’s hawk huddling over a bird – but it was the wooden chickadee! It was trying to get it into its grasp as it fruitlessly pecked away at it. Frustrated, and with blue jays and other birds squawking above, the hawk finally realized his humiliating error and flew off, leaving the wooden decoy behind!

 

     So, it is time to bring out more seed and suet feeders, maybe add another pole and baffle, and replace our bird bath dish with the heated one. Putting up a roosting box will help some of our smaller birds survive the frigid temperatures ahead. Best that I get all this done before the real cold sets in!